Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

383Table 2. Levels of fertilizer use (kg/ha) in maize-based cropping systemsby farm households in Kaduna and Katsina States.Katsina Kaduna AllN 49.5 58.7 53.4P 2lO 598.3 109.4 101.7K 2O 56.7 53.6 54.1FUI 204.5 221.7 217.9FUI = Fertilizer Use IntensityOrganic manure represents one of the important means ofmaintaining soil fertility in the study location. About 90 and 52% ofthe households sampled in Katsina and Kaduna States used farmyardmanure on their farms. The manure was mainly from cattle, sheep,goat, and chicken droppings/bedding materials, household wastes,cooking ash and municipal waste (refuse dumps). The householdsindicated awareness of the importance of organic manure, not onlyin enriching the fertility of soils but also in improving soil physicalproperties. However, they preferred applying mineral fertilizers becauseof ease of application, the manageable quantity required during eachapplication and the effi ciency in increasing crop yield.Fertilizer-use intensities, measured by the ratio of (N + P 2O 5+ K 2O)and the total area cultivated for all maize–based crops, were 204.5and 221.7 kg/ha in Katsina and Kaduna States (Table 2).The ratio of N: P 2O 5: K 2O/ha was 49.5:98.3:56.7 in Katsina Stateand 58.7:109.4:53.6 in Kaduna State. The sources of these nutrientswere N:P:K (15:15:15), single super-phosphate, urea, farmyardmanure, livestock droppings and household wastes. Analysis of thenutrients applied indicated that less than half of the recommended120 kg N was used while the ratios were higher for P 2O 5and K 2Oin both States. This was attributed to the higher content of availableP 2O 5and K 2O from organic manure compared to the available N.The primary source of N was inorganic fertilizer, which accounted forabout 85% of the total. The quantities of both the organic and mineralfertilizer used were observed to be low. The low rate of mineralfertilizer used by the households was attributed to the high cost offertilizer, low cash income of the household, and lack of credit facilitieswhile that of manure were mainly associated with the small number oflivestock kept, which could not produce enough manure in a season,and the free-range system that does not allow effi cient collection andmanagement of manure. Also, marketing of manure was limited inthe study locations due to the fact that most of the households do nothave enough for their own farms.